John Stevens (ice hockey)

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size =
position = Defence
played_for = Philadelphia Flyers
Hartford Whalers
shot = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 1
weight_lb = 195
nickname =
nationality = CAN
birth_date = birth date and age|1966|5|4
birth_place = Campbellton, NB, CAN
draft = 47th overall
draft_year = 1984
draft_team = Philadelphia Flyers
career_start = 1986
career_end = 1999

John A. Stevens (born May 4, 1966, in Campbellton, New Brunswick) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and the head coach of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers. He was named head coach on October 22, 2006 when coach Ken Hitchcock was fired and GM Bob Clarke resigned after the Flyers' worst start in 15 years.

Playing career

A skilled defensive defenceman, drafted in the third round (47th) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the Flyers, Stevens followed up a junior career with the Oshawa Generals by playing four seasons for the Flyers' former AHL farm team, the Hershey Bears. He was signed by the Hartford Whalers in 1990 and reassigned to the Whalers' farm team, the Springfield Indians, which he captained to the franchise's seventh and final Calder Cup that season. When the Indians' franchise moved to Worcester in 1994, he was the first captain of its successor franchise Springfield Falcons, where he played for two additional years (for a total of six seasons in Springfield).

In 1996, Stevens signed once more with the Flyers, and was named the first captain of its expansion farm team, the Philadelphia Phantoms. In his second season as captain, Stevens led the team to its first Calder Cup championship. He was named to play in several AHL All-Star games throughout his career.

As a player, Stevens played in 53 NHL games for the Flyers and the Whalers scoring no goals, ten assists and recording 48 penalty minutes. In the AHL, he played in 834 games, scoring 20 goals and 166 assists for 186 points. Ironically, given his low scoring output as a defensive defenceman, Stevens scored the first goals in franchise history for "both" the Falcons and the Phantoms.

Coaching career

Stevens was forced to retire as a player in 1999 due to a career-ending eye injury but remained with the Phantoms as an assistant coach. He then became the club's second head coach in 2000 when Bill Barber was promoted to the Flyers. During his six season tenure as coach, the Phantoms made the playoffs four times and won their second Calder Cup title in 2005. Stevens was himself promoted to the Phantoms' parent club as an assistant coach after the 2005–06 season, and on October 22, 2006, was named as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers after Ken Hitchcock was fired. On October 26 2006 Stevens coached his first NHL win (the Flyers defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 3–2 in an overtime shootout). On November 20 the Flyers announced that they had signed Stevens to a 2-year contract that will have him coaching through the 2007–2008 season. [http://www.philadelphiaflyers.com/pressbox/archive/2855.asp]

His first season with the Flyers saw his often injury-depleted team set a franchise record for consecutive losses (10 games) and finish the 2006–07 season with the club's worst record in its 40-year history. The Flyers set an NHL record for the biggest dropoff in points from one season to the next -- 101 points in the 2005–06 season to 56 points in the 2006–07 season for lowest point total in the NHL. [http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070109/SPORTS04/701090340]

However, as stunning as their fall from grace was the previous season, Stevens guided the Flyers to an immediate renaissance in 2007-08. The Flyers won 42 games and amassed 95 points in the regular season under Stevens guidance. Then the Flyers continued their magical season by beating the Capitals in the first round then stunning the Canadiens in the second round before falling to the Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals. For this, The Hockey News honored Stevens with their Coach of the Year award.

Awards

* 1988 - Calder Cup "Hershey Bears" (Player)
* 1991 - Calder Cup "Springfield Indians" (Player, Team Captain)
* 1996 - AHL All-Star Game (Player)
* 1998 - Calder Cup "Philadelphia Phantoms" (Player; Team Captain)
* 2005 - Calder Cup "Philadelphia Phantoms" (Head Coach)
* 2007 - Philadelphia Phantoms Hall of Fame inductee [http://www.phantomshockey.com/pressbox/archive/1842.asp]
* 2008 - The Hockey News Coach of the Year [http://flyers.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=368823]

Records

* 1994 - Scored first goal in Springfield Falcons history
* 1996 - Scored first goal in Philadelphia Phantoms history
* 2006 - Most consecutive losses in Philadelphia Flyers history (10) (Head Coach)
* 2007 - Largest point drop from one season to the next in NHL history (101 points in 2005 – 2006 season to 56 points in 2006 – 2007 season) (Head Coach)
* 2008 - Tied 2006 record of most consecutive losses in Philadelphia Flyers history (10) (Head Coach) [http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/23313732/]

Career statistics

Playing stats

External links

*hockeydb|5176|John Stevens
*legendsofhockey|11563|John Stevens
* [http://www.philadelphiaflyers.com/team/roster/RosterDetail.asp?PlayerID=152 Stevens' profile at Philadelphiaflyers.com]

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